Icy Strait Point & Hoonah

Our cruise stopped at the port of Icy Strait Point. Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have just recently started calling on this island just outside of Glacier Bay. I assume others will soon follow suit. (Some cruise lines offer excursions to Icy Strait but don't dock there. A good travel agent can help here.) Icy Strait is the only Alaska wilderness port on "big cruise line" itineraries.

This area has been inhabited for 1000 years by the Huna tribe of the Tlinkit people. Today's town of Hoonah, about a mile from the port, is the largest Tlinkit town in Alaska. Its population is about 900 with 70% being Tlinkits. Everybody knows everybody else and most are related to each other! It is a glimpse into the "real" Alaska. The main industries are fishing and logging (and probably soon, tourism). With a brown bear for every acre and a half, whales enjoying this north end of the Inside Passage, and a lot of old growth forests, cruise sightseers can get an eyeful.

Our ship, the Summit, anchored off shore as we tendered into port. The port of Icy Strait is the site of what was once one of the busiest salmon canneries in the world. The buildings have been restored and now house gift shops, restaurants, and Tlinkit artifacts. But you don't come to Icy Strait just to look at the port. This is a place to take an excursion! Whale watching, fishing, biking, hiking are all offered, but my wife Sharon and I went to see the bears!

Arranged into small groups each with a guide, we loaded into 4-wheel drive vehicles and headed toward the river. The town's people have built an area not too far from town with a boardwalk through the fields and woods to a number of elevated viewing platforms above the river. This is where, in hushed silence, we readied our cameras hoping a bear would come down the river (and not sneak up behind us!). We had good luck that day and saw a number of bears trying their luck fishing for the running salmon. It was really evident which were young bears and which were older besides just looking at their size difference. The older bears quickly caught fish and sat in the water for their lunch. The younger bears were almost comical running this way and that, upstream and downstream attempting to get a paw or mouth on the elusive fish.

After surviving the bear encounter, Sharon and I decided to walk from the port into town. It is about a mile from the port so some may prefer a taxis, but we like to walk. Saw a bald eagle on the way. The town of Hoonah is not a tourist town or a rich town. It is a place to visit with the locals maybe over a beer or sandwich. Sharon and I found the place to go; it is called The Office. The Office is a small bar and restaurant that serves fresh Dungeness Crabs! Outside of the bar, a small tent shelters the cooks with their cooler full of live crabs and the crab pot. Yummy! Eating at the bar, Sharon and I made friends with the Tlinkit owner and her daughter barmaid. We were introduced to their cousin who loaned us his cell phone to call the lower 48. That's friendliness! The cousin also bought us a few beers, posed for pictures, and gave Sharon big hugs. It turns out he would be on our ship the next few days as the naturalist guest speaker!

Before getting back on our tender back to the ship, we took part in a Tlinkit tradition. At Icy Strait, a big bonfire was roaring and being tended by a Tlinkit gentleman. He gave Sharon & I each a cedar wood chip. We tossed the chip into the fire. That brings good luck and we hope to go back. Isn't it interesting to Live The World!

Skagway

After Juneau, the next stop for Celebrity Cruise Line's Summit was Skagway. As with all areas of this country, there were indigenous people before the arrival of "us." In the case of Skagway it was the Tlingit (kling-kit) people. Skagway's beginning after "us" was, again, the gold rush but for a little different reason than the gold found around Juneau. Skagway was the entrance to the gold of the Yukon.

Having a deep harbor and located at the beginning of an easy (?) way through the mountains (now known as White Pass), Skagway was the perfect jumping off point for the prospectors heading into Canada in the late 1890's. Using Tlingit trails and later a narrow gauge train, those seeking their fortunes could traverse the mountains into Canada up to Bennett Lake where they could pick up the Yukon River for their final destination; the Klondike. Sharon & I took an excursion that retraced these step; the White Pass Train.

Now used mostly as a tourist attraction, the White Pass Train takes you up through the mountains above the timberline to the "top" at Frazer. We went WAY up! Two non-cruise tourists got off at an intermediate stop to backpack and camp near a glacier. (I think one of them was Grizzly Adams!) The train went through tunnels and over long tresses (which I hoped had been strengthened since the 1890's!) as we made the slow, switchback climb to the top. Of course, beautiful scenery! When we got to Frazer we were in the Yukon of Canada. Before disembarking, several Canadian Mountain Police boarded the train checking our passports. After a little rest at the top and a lot of picture taking, most people took the train back down to Skagway. Sharon & I were on a different package; we took bicycles back down. (There's a road through the pass now!)

Going downhill all the way for miles is my idea of bicycling! Kind of reminded us of the bike trip down the volcano Haleakala in Maui only Sharon & I were in the mountains this time. We went in small groups, with two guides, protective headgear, and a lot of safety precautions outlined to us. We weren't allowed to ride too close to the edge of the road, for some reason. The group made frequent stops for picture taking. There is a small guard house at the U.S./Canada border. All of us had to stop our bikes, get our documentation checked, and our passports stamped as we re-entered the states. Probably mostly for show, but it was fun! We didn't lose anyone to rogue bears and we didn't hit any moose, but my travel agent (Sharon) was always taking up the rear.

The people of Skagway have purposely tried to preserve the historical look of the gold rush days. Over 100 buildings have been refurbished in their original style. At its peak around 1898 the population of Skagway was between 8000-10,000 making it the largest city in Alaska. The reputation was pretty rough and lawless. Even though today's population is closer to 1000 a lot of them are involved with the tourists. We saw costumed girls hanging out of hotel windows beckoning us to come up for "a visit." One of their more famous saloons, the Red Onion, had costumed bar maids, a rag-time piano player, and a few R-rated pictures from the 1890's hanging on the wall of former "employees." It's always an experience when you Live The World!

Vancouver, BC

Our Celebrity cruise left from Vancouver. If possible, I'd always suggest having your travel agent get you to a port at least a day ahead of your cruise departure just in case you encounter any flight problems. Now I know there are never any flight cancellations (yeh, right!) , but, just in case, it sure eases my mind to know a little flight delay will not make me miss my cruise. My wife, Sharon, and I went to Vancouver two days ahead of time to explore the area.

Vancouver is a large city (about 2 mil) on the coast and has a new, cosmopolitan but "out- doorsey" feel. Being on the water, near the mountains, with a lot of parks made me feel like I should be jogging or hiking. Yet, the downtown has new skyscrapers with good shopping, great restaurants, and fun entertainment. We stayed in the West End area which is within walking distance of a lot of food, entertainment, and shopping. We walked to Gastown, their historic area, which features a lot of "pubs" and jazz entertainment. Seems like this Northwest area has a lot of micro-breweries, so my wife had to try them all (or was that me? I forget). The city also has a large Asian population with the biggest "Chinatown" in Canada. That also equates to good oriental food!

Sharon and I explored two other Vancouver city areas that I would recommend. Taking a city bus from the West End we went to Granville Island. Don't know if this is an actual island, but it is an area down by the river that has been refurbished with a lot of restaurants, micro-breweries (for my wife!), a great market (fresh vegetables, fruits, fish, meats, crafts, etc.) and fun entertainment. A nice place to stroll around and spend an evening (and take a cab home!).

We also walked from our West End hotel to Stanley Park; the crown jewel of Vancouver parks. Stanley Park is a huge natural area (like Central Park, NYC) that has horse-drawn carriage rides, miles of foot trails, seawall walking and biking trails, with picnic areas; you get the picture. There are also shuttle buses rounding the park. You can get on and off at stops throughout the park and visit their restaurants, totem pole exhibit, scenic overlooks, etc. Very relaxing way to be outdoors. Again, Vancouver, with a lot of parks, seems centered around the out of doors.

The next day, we took the Sea Bus across the bay toward the mountains. Earlier we had purchased a two day bus pass that also included transportation on this ferry. This area north of Vancouver has a lot of nice residential areas (you notice how well flowers grow in this mild climate), but we headed to two other attractions; Capilano Park and a salmon hatchery. A bus (again, pre-paid) took us from the dock to Capilano. The park, in the tall pines and hemlocks, has an exhibit about the old logging days, but the main attractions are its suspension bridge and tree top tour.

The suspension walking bridge is 450 feet long and hangs about 230 feet above a river. Traversing the "two lane" bridge with people walking both ways is a cool experience that becomes more "exciting" when kids start it swaying! Actually, the park rangers are real good at stopping these shenanigans. Once on the other side, there are paths to walk the woods. If you so desire, there is the Tree Top Adventure. The Adventure is a series of suspended foot bridges that goes from tree to tree throughout the park with "tree houses" at the junctions. At times you are 100 feet above the foot paths. Pretty unique.

A half mile up the road from Capilano is a salmon hatchery. It has the normal exhibits and tanks with various size fish, but what I found interesting was the fish ladder. The "ladder" is a series of stepped tanks that allow salmon, that are migrating up stream to spawn, a way to get around an obstruction in a stream like a dam. At the hatchery the fish ladder has windows into the tanks. Here, you can see the salmon pooling in the various tanks until they get enough courage to make the jump up to the next higher tank. Tough to get the timing right to photograph the jump, though.

With only two days in Vancouver, that's about all Sharon & I could accomplish before boarding our ship (cool ship terminal!). Two things we had wanted to do were a day trip north to Whistler (winter & summer resort area and part of Vancouver's 2010 Winter Olympics) and a ferry ride over to Vancouver Island and the town of Victoria. Maybe next time. Remember to Live the World!

Cruise Alaska

This summer my wife and I took a cruise of Alaska's Inside Passage followed by a few days in Denali. I'll follow-up with some other blogs on the land portion of our trip, as well as, thoughts on the ports we visited.

There are a lot of options when cruising Alaska. First you have to decide if you want the small ship experience or what we consider "the normal size" cruise ships. The small ships generally have a more casual atmosphere and decor/accommodations and often have an expedition/education theme. They have the advantage of being able to go to places the larger ships can't. The larger ships have all the glitz and glamour we associate with cruising. They offer the lounges, spas, entertainment, and activities that are normally limited on smaller ships.

Next you have to pick a cruise line. All cruise lines are not alike. Even some ships within one cruise line can have a different "atmosphere." They will vary in price (of course), accommodations, level of service, food, type of clientele, prepaid inclusions, and activities/entertainment. A good travel agent can pick the cruise line that best fits your budget and tastes.

Cruises will vary in length and travel either north or south. There are a few round trip cruises (in and out of the same port), but I feel they only give you a tease of the experience. These cruises don't go far enough. I don't have any preference if I take the north or south route for just a cruise. I don't even see a big need to pick what side of the ship your cabin is on (to be able to see the land), but for some that might be a factor to consider. A determining factor would be if you are adding a land portion to the cruise (that, I really recommend!). Some people like to do the land tour first and then the "relaxing" cruise last (a south route). My preference would be cruise then land (north route, which we did) because the land portion was so spectacular! Doing the land tour first would make the cruise anti-climactic for me because a day in a port, although pretty and interesting, was not as dramatic as spending time as part of the land. Also, we saw much more wildlife on the land portion and, of course, Mt McKinley!

My wife and I were on the Summit of Celebrity Cruise Line. Celebrity is an upscale Royal Caribbean; its parent company. It's above the mass market entry level cruise lines but a step below the luxury lines. In a lot of respects, I find Celebrity and Princess Cruises are similar. There is still a wide variety of ages on both cruise lines but more of an upscale clientele and decor than, say, Carnival. Celebrity has a good reputation for its food. The service is good, the ship clean, with normal entertainment. Their specialty restaurant (at an an additional fee) was excellent! Cirque du Soleil is on board with an abbreviated show, but I wanted more having seen several of the full scale shows. Cruising on the Summit was very enjoyable. Having been cruising in the Caribbean, it was weird to see the deck chairs around the pool to have rolled wool blankets instead of towels! Live the World!